Autumn Freak

It's absolutely freezing! The weather has suddenly turned cold and I can no longer go out in a t-shirt. In fact, I go out everyday looking like a 'ba zhang' and it seems like everyone on the streets look at me like I'm some weirdo. Most people here dress in 2 - 3 layers, but i wear 3 - 4 layers. I have to wake up earlier everyday now just to get dressed in my many layers. I live in a tropical county, so you can't blame me! I can't imagine how much I'll be wearing when winter really comes! This reminds me of not too long ago in February when I was complaining about the cold too!

I go to bed every night with a layer of quilt, and 3 layers of blanket. Exaggerated? I think not. I would love to have more layers if only I had more blankets. Only problem is I can't move much when I sleep now as the thick layers weigh a tonne on me. My new companion in bed is my hairdryer. The @#$% hotel is not going to turn on the heater till sometime in November! I use the hairdryer to warm the quilt before snuggling under it. In the middle of the night when I wake up due to the excessive cold, I would use the hairdryer to give myself a nice blow of hot air, then continue with my dream.....

Bye Bye Gong Gong

Our last family photo with gong gong...... byebye forever......

2e1 '04

my lovely students from 2e1 '04......
beverley, mabel, ma kay, adilah, basyirah, shimma, maryam, celestine, xueli, alvin, jun ming, jing hou, eddie, darius, kelvin, marcus, junjie, khairul, eugene, wei hong, erastus, mason, adam, amin, ridhaus, han wee, jun ju, koh yew, wee keong, xiang yang, wei yang, chuan jun, jia feng

you are always in my thoughts.... i hope each one of you is studying hard for your exams.... good luck......

Swirl Shop

S W I R L
stamford house 02-05
39 stamford road
tel: 6338 5020
monday ~ saturday
12pm ~ 8.30pm
www.ilovetoswirl.com

Although the Swirl elf is away in China, I can still do my part by giving free advertising here! The Swirl shop has officially moved to the address above! Do tell all your friends about it! All my girl friends, please go down and support support! All my guy friends, please bring your girlfriend down and support support! There are more than just clothes available! Go take a look!

Japan? Korea?

When I was in Vietnam and Myanmar, locals thought I was Japanese. Now that I'm in China, they think I'm Korean...... OMG! Does any part of my face look like it has had plastic surgery?!?! I mean, if I did have plastic surgery, I would look tonnes better than now for sure! Is it my mandarin accent? Or is it because Singaporeans do not have a distinct look? But I'm certain when we see a fellow Singaporean overseas, we can tell them apart straight away, no? Hmm.... I suppose it's always easier to recognise our own kind.

Teddy's Wise Words

These words came from a cute teddy bear notebook that I just bought. Amazingly, this "Made in China" notebook is free from any grammatical or typographical errors. Can't imagine a teddy bear sprouting all these words huh?

I believe that true love is the ultimate expression of the will to live.

A heart of true love is forever young.

Faith makes all things possible, love makes them easy.

Your words are my food, your breath is my wine. You are everything to me.

Don't find love, let love find you. That's why it's called falling in love because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall.

These below seem more probable for a teddy bear.

Let's have a picnic!

I love cookies!

Don't worry, be happy!

Seriously, all these came from my notebook. I didn't make any of them up!

Roar... For real!

One week after I'm back from Harbin and I'm still writing about things I saw/did there. I visited the Tiger Park and saw plenty of tigers from close range. It's like those safari style zoo whereby the tigers are free to roam and visitors can watch them from the comfort of the bus.

The tigers look like soft toys.... fluffy and totally innocent.... But looks can be deceiving!
I was most intrigued by this animal below. It is the result of a lion mating with a tiger. They call it the 狮虎兽. I don't know whether to feel pity for it as it's the only of its kind or whether to feel envious that this magnificent creature has the best qualities from both the lion and tiger. It has the stripes of a tiger but a furry face almost like a lion. I don't know why it's white though... I suppose a snow tiger was used to mate with the lion? Weird......

Sun Island

Another place that I visited was Sun Island (太阳岛). It is just a wide area with lots of greenery, water and beautiful scenary. Nothing much to see there except for the many pretty brides taking their wedding photos....

Russian Harbin

What does one do when one is travelling by herself? Take photos of her shadow, of course!

I managed to get an uncle to take a photo of me (he says he doesn't know how to use a digital camera, but I think he did a good job!) in front of the St. Sophia Church. It's too beautiful to miss being photographed with. It is a Russian inspired church (duh!) built long long ago. It's supposed to be more beautiful at night with the lightings, but I didn't have the chance to see it for myself.

Sunset in Harbin

I never really liked taking photographs in aeroplanes because I feel so conscious of all the kay-pohs looking at what I'm doing. But I just couldn't resist this lovely sunset. Plus I couldn't get out of my seat as the aisle was jammed with all these people rushing to be the first to cheong off the plane. And I thought Singaporeans are kiasu......

Here I Come Harbin!

In about 5 hours, I would be in freezing Harbin! That is greatly exaggerated.... Harbin is not YET freezing because it's still autumn! So looking forward to it! I mean my trip, not the cold....

Uncle Auntie

My student's parents brought me to this place (杨家埠) which has a long history of kite-making. Not only do they make kites here, they also do some form of traditional painting using wooden carved blocks.

The second place where they brought me to is where Journey to the West (西游记) was filmed. The scene where Piggy was stealing a bride was filmed here. Coincidentally, I was watching Journey to the West last night and caught that scene! Piggy was playing hide-and-seek with the common folks around the rock that auntie and I are posing with!

There are no photos of uncle because he wishes to remain illusive. He doesn't like being photographed but enjoys taking our photos! All the lovely souvenir you see on my blog are actually gifts from auntie and uncle! Feel so paiseh......

Seeing Double

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you..... This is Mr 'Clothe Tiger' again. But he is of a different species from the family of four you see below. He is special because he has two heads!!! I don't know how to capture both his faces, so try to use your imagination! Anyway, both faces have the same expression, so it's no big lose not seeing the other side!

Roar

Look at my cute 布老虎. (Apologies... I wrote it as lions at first!)
You must think I am crazy to buy four similar tigers!

But look again, they are actually a family of four! From big to small!

Mini Fruit

These are what I brought back from Wei Fang. On the left is a plastic bag full of 枣子. I think that's how it is written. I've never eaten it before till I went to Wei Fang. This fruit is kind of like dates (红枣), so I like to think of 枣子 as 红枣's brother! On the right are cherry tomatoes. Those who know me should know that I'm not a big fan of tomatoes, but these are different! These are delicious! Totally sweet and juicy!

If you think what a auntie I am for bringing these fruits back to Jinan, then you are wrong! They were gifts from a student's mother.

People Everywhere

I'm sure everyone has seen pictures or news report of how crowded the chinese trains or buses or streets can get during their long holidays. It's true! I've seen and experienced it for myself! It's terrible! Everyone is travelling.... Everyone is rushing to go home.... Everyone is lugging huge bags... Everyone is pushing everyone else.... Everyone is cutting queue! There were a few times I wanted to holler at the people who had cut my queue! Argh! But I held my tongue as I was in a foreign land and most importantly, I know that I would be on the losing end if I were to argue with them in Mandarin.

So there.... I endured.... Good thing my student was with me when we were going to Wei Fang and he helped us buy tickets. Another good thing: my friend was there to pick me up from the bus station when we arrived! I almost could not find her among the sea of people.... One word to describe it all..... CHAOS!!!

The friend who picked me up is the girl who is grinning widely below. Her name is 田甜 (Tian Tian) and she is every bit as sweet as her name suggests. She brought me for steamboat and we wiped out 2 huge plates of beef, not to mention other stuff along with it! We were stuffed after that!

I'm Back!

It's China's golden week right now and the whole nation is on a week-long holiday. I just came back from Wei Fang. Yes again! Haha! It's almost like my second home now! Due to the long holiday, some friends in Wei Fang invited me there and spend time with them. It beats spending my time all alone in Jinan. Definitely! Even though I was there for only 3 days, 2 nights, I had a great time! I saw things that I had not seen during my first trip! My guess is I'll be going to Wei Fang very soon again!

Photos and other stuff coming up..... Let me rest first yeah?